Anthony Weiner Gets 21 Months in Prison for Sexting With Teenager

Anthony D. Weiner, the disgraced former New York congressman who became caught up in a scandal over his exchange of lewd texts with a 15-year-old girl, was sentenced on Monday to 21 months in prison. Mr. Weiner, 53, had pleaded guilty to one count of transferring obscene material to a minor, and had faced up to 10 years in prison. After the sentence was pronounced, and Judge Denise L. Cote of Federal District Court in Manhattan had left the courtroom, Mr. Weiner remained seated between his lawyers at the defense table, crying, his face in his hands. He must surrender on Nov. 6. Mr. Weiner’s lawyers had asked Judge Cote for probation for their client, citing what they described as Mr. Weiner’s “remarkable progress” over the past year. In his own letter to the judge, Mr. Weiner said he felt “profound” regret for his crime, adding that his “continued acting out over years crushed the aspirations” of his wife, Huma Abedin, “and ruined our marriage.” Federal prosecutors, in their own memo to the judge, had argued that probation was “simply inadequate” and Mr. Weiner deserved prison. The government recommended a sentence within the range of 21 to 27 months. “Although the defendant’s self-destructive path from United States congressman to felon is indisputably sad,” the prosecutors wrote, “his crime is serious and his demonstrated need for deterrence is real.” Mr. Weiner’s sentencing was yet another chapter in his long and tortuous downfall. In 2011, Mr. Weiner, a Democrat who had represented parts of Queens and Brooklyn, was forced to resign from Congress after an explicit picture, posted from his Twitter account, surfaced. Continue reading the main storyUtne Altwire: healthcare